1 Dead, 4 Injured After Severe Weather

(myFOXDetroit.com Staff Reports) – A severe storm that left one person dead and four others injured at an eastern Michigan campground developed so quickly that authorities had little chance to warn those in its path, a National Weather Service official said Monday.

The storm moved through the Fort Trodd Family Campground in St. Clair County’s Clyde Township shortly after 7 p.m. Sunday, overturning trailers and scattering furniture, bikes and debris.

James Anderson, 75, of Mount Clemens was killed, said Sheriff Tim Donnellon, who declined to release further details until an autopsy was performed. Four people were taken to area hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries.

Mike Richter, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in White Lake Township, said Monday that the fast-developing storm did not give authorities a chance to notify people in advance. The National Weather Service had issued multiple tornado and severe thunderstorm warnings across the southern part of the state Sunday.

“It was gone as quickly as it developed,” Richter said of the storm that overturned several camping trailers.

Diana Gawronski and her husband, Ed, took cover inside their 30-foot camper when they saw the sky turning dark.

“The rain came, the wind came and that was it,” said Gawronski, 67, of Warren. She said they “hit the floor, bounced around and then it was over.” Gawronski said her camper stayed upright but suffered significant damage, including losing a screened-in room and the furniture it contained.

One trailer landed in a large pond on the private campground, which features 80 to 100 campsites about 65 miles north of Detroit. A dive team searched the water as a precaution Sunday night even after authorities said all campground visitors were accounted for.

The National Weather Service confirmed at least two tornados in Michigan’s south.